


Nico doesn't cuddle... usually

by xogray



Series: solangelo oneshots [2]
Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, Kissing, M/M, Post-The Heroes of Olympus, Soft Nico di Angelo, first I love you, like very soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:53:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26763898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xogray/pseuds/xogray
Summary: Today, for the first time in his life, Nico had an overwhelming urge to cuddle. Specifically with Will. And not just cuddle. Nico wanted to hold his hand, wrap his arms around him, lean his head on his shoulder, kiss him. For once, Nico di Angelo wanted more than anything to be physically close to someone.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: solangelo oneshots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1933870
Comments: 9
Kudos: 229





	Nico doesn't cuddle... usually

Nico wasn’t exactly sure why he woke up feeling this way. It was something he’d never experienced in his life. Truthfully, he blamed it on his boyfriend. But then again, he and Will had been dating for two months now and he’d never felt this way. 

Today, for the first time in his life, Nico had an overwhelming urge to cuddle. Specifically with Will. And not just cuddle. Nico wanted to hold his hand, wrap his arms around him, lean his head on his shoulder, kiss him. For once, Nico wanted more than anything to be physically close to someone. 

So when Will knocked on his cabin door like he did every morning for breakfast, Nico broke out into a stupidly big grin and threw his blankets off his legs. He scrambled out of bed and all but ran to the door, opening it quickly. Will smiled at him and before he could speak, Nico grabbed his wrist and pulled him inside. Silently, he threw his arms around his boyfriend’s neck, forcing Will to bend awkwardly to accommodate for their height difference. 

“Good morning to you too,” Will said, wrapping his arms around Nico’s waist. “You okay?”

Naturally, Will would worry about Nico. He was rarely an affectionate person so it was probably weird for Nico to hug Will as tightly as he was right now. 

Nico nodded. “Just wanted a hug,” he mumbled into the crook of Will’s neck. Then he pulled back a little and stretched up to press his lips to Will’s. “And a kiss,” Nico added. 

Will’s smile was radiant and Nico made a mental note to be affectionate like this more often if it meant Will would smile at him like that. He leaned down again and gave Nico another gentle kiss before pulling away. “Breakfast time,” he said. He released Nico from his embrace and Nico immediately missed the feeling of them, which was so unlike him. 

Will was always a touchy person. And Nico never minded, but he couldn’t handle a ton of contact all the time and he rarely initiated contact, unless it was to comfort Will. He didn’t often seek out Will’s touch even though he did enjoy it. So the sensation of missing Will’s arms around him was a foreign one and Nico hated it. He hated missing it because he couldn’t pull Will further into his cabin and cuddle all day like he wanted to. 

He nodded, reluctantly dropping his arms to his side and walking with his boyfriend in the sun to the pavilion. They grabbed food, burned offerings to the Gods, and sat side by side like always. And normally, Nico was completely content with the small contact of their arms pressing together. Today, he found himself wanting his boyfriend to wrap his arm around his shoulders and let Nico curl into his side. 

As the table began to fill up with Will’s siblings, Nico realized if he did curl up against his boyfriend, it would with several pairs of eyes on him. And while he knew none of them would care, the idea of being so vulnerable in front of so many people made him uncomfortable. 

So instead, he settles for subtly leaning closer to Will, pressing their arms together more firmly. The movement doesn’t go unnoticed by Will. He turned his head and looked at his boyfriend. His eyebrows were furrowed, silently asking something like _are you okay?_

Nico gave him a brief, soft smile in response. Will’s stupidly blue eyes sparkled. His hand came to rest on Nico’s knee, who looked down to hide the smile threatening to take over his face. 

Nico considered himself lucky. He’d never explicitly told Will what made him comfortable or uncomfortable. Because he’d never needed to. Will had always just seemed to know. He knew subtle, secret touches were okay. He knew larger displays of PDA would’ve made Nico anxious, like he would be waiting for someone to have an issue with them. And he considered himself lucky because he knew Will was a very sentimental person, who would’ve gladly accepted any form of PDA, yet he toned it down for Nico’s sake. 

Will’s hand squeezed his knee once and Nico moved his hand to intertwine fingers with his boyfriend. He didn’t have to look over to know Will’s smile had gotten even brighter when he did this. Nico held his hand tightly, not looking forward to the moment he’d have to let go. 

-

Don’t get him wrong, Nico was incredibly proud of Will being the healer that he was. He loved that his boyfriend helped people because he knew Will loved to help people. But today, Nico hated that Will loved to help people because it meant that Will was busy in the infirmary all day. 

Nico did his best to keep himself busy. He sparred with some Hermes camper, helped polish weapons, tried to climb the lava wall once, and even tried to take a nap. His nap turned into him staring at his ceiling and wishing Will was with him. Around 3 pm, he sauntered into the infirmary. 

Will sat at a desk, filling out some type of forms. There were four other people in the infirmary. Two campers asleep on cots, one sat up on a cot getting bandaged by another Apollo camper. Neither of them paid Nico any attention as he crossed the floor to lean against the desk Will was at. His blue eyes snapped up and he smiled widely.

“Hey,” he said. “What are you doing here?”

Nico shrugged. “I missed you,” he said quietly, just loud enough for Will to hear. Will smiled but his eyebrows furrowed together.

“Are you… okay?” he asked. Nico nodded, offering no further explanation. Will narrowed his eyes skeptically. “You’re very… lovey today. Which I don’t mind at all, but it’s not like you.”

The genuine concern on his boyfriend’s face almost made Nico laugh. Instead, he shrugged again and moved on. “Do you know when you’re gonna be done here?”

Will smiled, tilting his head. His gold hair flopped to the side and Nico almost reached out to run his fingers through it. Then Will looked over at his sibling who had just finished patching up the injured camper. “Emma,” he called, capturing her attention, “are you good to be by yourself for a bit? Justin should be coming in at six. Would you be fine until then?”

Emma’s eyes went from Will to Nico, then back to Will. She smiled and Nico averted his eyes, looking down at his feet. “Yeah, I’ll be good,” she said. Then she chuckled. “You two better be good too.”

Nico’s cheeks flushed at her suggestive tone and he kept his eyes on his feet. Will stood up. “Ha ha,” he said sarcastically. “Thank you though, I’ll see you at dinner.”

Will touched Nico’s arm, allowing Nico to lead him out. They easily could’ve walked the distance to Nico’s cabin but he really wasn’t in the mood for a) a walk and b) anyone else makes jokes about the two of them being alone. So instead, he took Will’s hand and used the shadow from the infirmary to travel to his cabin. His body sagged a little after the jump. Small jumps like that weren’t hard, but it took extra energy to take someone else with him.

“We could’ve walked,” Will said, wrapping an arm around Nico’s waist to support him. Leaning against his boyfriend, Nico just shook his head.

“Too slow,” he muttered, making his boyfriend chuckle.

“Okay, sunshine,” he said, pressing a small kiss to Nico’s head. After a few seconds, Nico regained his balance and stood up a little straighter. Will looked at him intently. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Nico nodded and bit his lip before taking Will’s hand and pulling him towards his bed. The Hades cabin only had two beds. One for Nico and an extra, which Hazel used on the very rare occasion she was at Camp Half-Blood. They stood in front of the bed and Nico looked up at Will.

“Lay down.”

Will blinked at him and Nico resisted the urge to laugh. He pushed his shoulder against Will’s lightly. Or at least he tried to. Will was almost half a foot taller than him so it was more like he bumped his shoulder into Will’s arm.

“Trust me,” Nico said quietly, smiling. It was a soft, shy smile that only was reserved for his boyfriend.

Will studied him for a minute before nodding slowly and laying on Nico’s bed. Once he was settled, he looked up at Nico with confusion.

Nico held back a wider smile. Will was so cute.

He crawled onto the bed and laid on his side. One arm was tightly wrapped around Will’s torso and the other was caught between their bodies. His head rested right under Will’s chin. 

Will hesitated before chuckling. He slid one arm under Nico’s neck and the other around his body so that his hand was pressed to the middle of Nico’s back. 

Nico’s heart sped up a little. Sure, he’s hugged Will countless times. That was familiar. But laying in bed and cuddling with his boyfriend was completely foreign. And Nico loved it.

“So,” Will said quietly. His thumb slid back and forth against a little part of Nico’s spine slowly. “You wanted to… cuddle? This is new.”

Nico smiled. “Good new or bad new?” he asked, knowing the answer.

Will kissed his forehead. “Good, obviously,” he said. “I’m just confused as to where this is coming from.”

“Me too.”

Will leaned back to look down at Nico, who offered him a lopsided grin.

“For the first time in my entire life, I woke up just…” Nico paused, moving his hand that was caught between their bodies up to rest on Will’s chest, “just really wanting to be close to someone. Specifically you. Obviously.”

Will looked like he was holding back a wide smile. Nico shifted upwards a little bit so their faces were more level. He acted annoyed by it most days, but Nico secretly loved their height difference. Not that he would _ever_ admit it to anyone, especially not Will.

“I can’t say I have any complaints,” Will said quietly. His hand moved up until it was resting on Nico’s cheek, who immediately nuzzled into Will’s palm. He watched as Will’s eyes lit up at the movement and Nico’s cheeks flushed. 

Using his elbow for support, Nico leaned forward and pressed his lips to Will’s softly. Kissing was still so new to Nico but the more he did it, the more he loved it. Of course, he’d only ever kissed Will but he couldn’t complain about that. Will was warm and loving and so patient. He understood that Nico had never been close to someone in that way so every new turn was a learning experience for him. 

Their bodies were pressed together and Nico’s fingers were twisted in Will’s shirt. Nico had discovered that Will’s kisses were like honey, slow and sweet, and he found it addictive. All too soon, Will pulled back, making Nico pout. 

Will smiled. “You’re so cute.”

Nico scowled at the compliment, making his boyfriend laugh. His heart fluttered at the sound and he buried himself into Will’s chest to hide his wide smile. Nico could hear how quickly Will’s heart was beating and he found himself wrapping his arms around his torso tighter.

He pushed his face into Will’s shirt and softly mumbled, “I love you.”

“Hm?”

Nico bit his lip. Will hadn’t heard it, but he said it. Finally. He’d felt it for so long now and he’d wanted to say it so badly. And now he did. The hard part was over. Nico pulled back enough to look up at his boyfriend. Will looked at him with his sparkling blue eyes and a soft smile.

“I love you,” Nico repeated quietly. 

A range of emotions passed through Will’s face in a split second. Shock, confusion, awe, adoration. He smiled wider. “You do?” he whispered.

Nico nodded. All the air in Will’s lungs left him in a soft, breathy laugh. He cupped Nico’s face and brought him into a kiss. Nico let out a small noise of surprise before returning the kiss. His heart sped up and he felt elated. Will hadn’t even said it back yet, but he didn’t need to. This was already enough.

Nonetheless, Nico only got happier when Will pulled away to mumble against his lips, “I love you too. Gods, I love you.” Will’s eyes glittered beautifully. “I’ve wanted to say that for a while now, but I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything.”

Nico’s cheeks hurt from smiling. “I’ve wanted to tell you for a while too,” he replied quietly. Will was absolutely beaming and Nico decided that cuddling was something he could get used to.


End file.
